The field of the invention related to methods for storing and/or transporting at least partially deformable items, and in particular, to methods for storing and/or transporting caps or similar items for bottles, containers and the like.
Numerous types of caps such as screw-type caps are well known and are used in particular on glass or plastic beverage containers, medicine containers, etc. Such caps are also referred to as closure systems for bottles and containers that are produced in a variety of standard sizes and that are circulated in large numbers.
Injection molded caps for blow-molded bottles, medicine containers, etc. have been used for many years. Generally, two types of bottle caps are available, push-on caps and threaded caps. Push-on caps are installed by lining up the cap with the opening of a bottle and simply applying an axial force to the top of the cap. Thread-on caps generally require that the cap and bottle be aligned and that a rotational force be applied to the cap. In some cases, threaded caps may be made so that the rotational force required to install the cap is minimized or even eliminated. These kinds of injection-molded caps are often made with polypropylene, a common material used in injection molding. Many other types of plastic materials are also used for injection molding, polyethylene being the next most popular.
One form of screw type plastic bottle caps generally has a cap body with an internal thread and a tamperproof strip. Conventionally, the tamperproof strip is made so that it detaches at least partially from the cap body when the cap is unthreaded. This is intended as an indication to the person that the bottle or container was either previously opened, or has not yet been tampered with. Some caps must have pressure applied at certain locations in order to unscrew the cap from the container. Such caps are generally referred to as a childproof caps.
Typically injection molded caps are manufactured in large quantities which are temporarily stored until they are used for sealing respective containers. For example in the pharmacy field the caps may be shipped separate from the containers. When the pharmacist fills an order for a prescription, then a cap is used with a particular container. Thus there may be a significant amount of time between the manufacture of a cap and the actual use of the cap on a bottle or container. It has been a problem in the industry that when the time during which the caps are in storage, or in transport from one location to another, the caps may become deformed due to the weight of other caps that are stacked on top of them or due to environmental factors such as heat. One solution to this has been to ship cartons that are only half filed the caps. However, this approach is inefficient and costly. Thus there is a need for a cost effective method of efficiently transporting and storing such caps such that they do not become deformed or damaged prior to their use.
This drawback is overcome by one embodiment of a method for storing and/or transporting at least partially deformable items, such as the caps described above, which has the following steps: identifying for at least one item an edge-on plane that is associated with a more deformable direction of the at least one item and an axial plane that is associated with a less deformable direction of the at least one item; and orienting the at least one item such that the edge-on plane of the at least one item is substantially vertical. The at least one item is stored and/or transported in this edge-on orientation wherein the edge-on plane of the at least one item remains substantially vertical.
In a further embodiment of the method for storing and/or transporting at least partially deformable caps, each of a plurality of deformable caps is placed in an edge-on orientation. Thereafter each of the plurality of deformable caps is placed with the edge-on orientation in a container for storage therein and/or transport therein, each of the plurality of deformable caps being stored and/or transported in an unsecured manner relative to other deformable caps in the container.
While the present invention is susceptible of embodiments in various forms, there is shown in the drawings and will hereinafter be described some exemplary and non-limiting embodiments, with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered an exemplification of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments illustrated.
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